Valium and other meds for sale illegally as online pharmacies boom in China
More and more Chinese people are getting their prescription medicine from online pharmacies, but the young industry has plenty of growing pains.
Narcotic and psychotropic drugs like Valium and phenobarbital are easily available on major Chinese online pharmacies, according to a new report from The Paper (in Chinese).
Reporters found 117 scheduled medications, including treatments for blood clotting and depression, for sale without prescription by leading industry websites. The article mentions Nasdaq-listed 111, as well as Alibaba Health Pharmacy, JD Pharmacy, and Tencentโs WeDoctor โ which are owned by the three internet giants, but does not say which drugs were found on which platforms.
It is illegal to sell these drugs, but the legal online pharmacy business is also booming. China has the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world, after the U.S., and about 60.3% Chinese residents used online pharmacies in 2020, according to a recent survey by iResearch (in Chinese). In comparison, 35% of Americans used online pharmacies, according to a 2020 poll by an industry research group.
- In 2018, Chinaโs pharmaceutical ecommerce market was worth 97.8 billion yuan ($15 billion), according to a report from one research company.
- Deloitte research reported that about 150 billion yuan ($23.1 billion) in hospital and retail drug sales are expected to move online.
Problems in offline pharmacies, such as higher prices and shortages of certain drugs, are pushing patients online, according to the iResearch survey. For example, people with chronic diseases and rare diseases sought medication online more often.
- This is a recent phenomenon. The first Chinese online pharmacy, Shanghai No. 1 Pharmacy (ไธๆตท็ฌฌไธๅป่ฏ), was started in 1998 but was shut down within a year (in Chinese), and online sales of prescription drugs were prohibited.
- But starting from 2019 (in Chinese), the government relaxed the ban, and in 2020 issued a policy (in Chinese) to promote online drug sales as a way of relieving industry bottlenecks.
Chinaโs major online pharmacies are:
- 111 (1่ฏ็ฝ, Nasdaq: YI)
- Alibaba Health Pharmacy (้ฟ้ๅฅๅบทๅคง่ฏๆฟ, part of Alibaba Health, HK: 0241)
- JD Pharmacy (ไบฌไธๅคง่ฏๆฟ, part of JD Health, HK: 6618)
- WeDoctor (ๅพฎๅป, planning Hong Kong IPO) has a pharmacy business, but it is not clear how significant.
Other large players include: DXY.com (ไธ้ฆๅป็), Jianke (ๅฅๅฎข็ฝไธ่ฏๅบ), Yaofangwang (่ฏๆฟ็ฝๅๅ), DDKY.com (ๅฎๅฝๅฟซ่ฏ), Ehaoyao (ๅฅฝ่ฏๅธ), Chunyu Yisheng (ๆฅ้จๅป็), J1.com (ๅฅไธ็ฝ), Yao123.com (ๅฝ่ฏ็ฝ), and 360kad.com (ๅบท็ฑๅค).
See also: Chinese pharmaโs history of counterfeits, fakes, and quality issues on The China Project.
